During the sea voyage, the first day or two might feel exhilarating with the sky and sea both a deep blue, but by the third day, it becomes rather tedious with an unchanging view of just the sea and sky.
At night, darkness that seemed to devour light surrounded everything, as if something might jump out at any second.
“Guard the deck, and attack!”
On the tenth night, a fierce storm enveloped the sorcerer’s ship, causing it to pitch violently, bringing some uninvited guests along with it.
Hearing the increasing commotion outside, Ivan and Pearney opened their doors one after another. After exchanging glances, they decided to go out and take a look, since they were now considered part of the ship’s guard.
The sky was dotted with rain, and the deck was drenched.
“Captain Caleb, what’s the situation?”
They reached the front deck where Caleb, along with other guards, was clearing creatures swept aboard by the storm. These sea creatures, glowing with magical hues, like the increasing number of luminescent jellyfish crawling over the ship’s side, were truly magical.
Caleb indeed was a Great Knight. His Combat Energy was not purely black but had a faint yellow halo around it, a characteristic feature of a Great Knight’s Combat Energy.
Ivan also saw him executing a Combat Energy Slash, striking through the air at high speed to kill a newly emerged luminescent jellyfish, its power was no less than that of a Level 0 magic.
In fact, the damage dealt by Ivan’s own swings of his longsword was not inferior to the maximum graduated degree of the Vine Entanglement effect, even surpassing it significantly, though it lacked the distance and flexibility of spells. The flexibility and variety offered by spells were far beyond what Combat Energy could compare.
Caleb, glancing back, then focused ahead, “No worries, these little things can’t bother us. Sea voyages are like that, you get strange creatures crawling onto the deck if you’re not careful. The closer we get to ‘Moon Pincer Peninsula’, the more common this becomes. You guys should also be extra careful.”
“Understood, I’ll lend you a hand.”
Ivan wanted to see how different these creatures were, he carried his Quillen Sword forward, joining the guards in clearing the luminescent jellyfish.
Similar to the Cloud Fog servants on Lahr Island, slicing through them felt like cutting through gelatin.
He had a thought; after a Cloud Fog servant died, it left behind a core akin to a stone, which must be an element stone used like magic stones as currency. He had experimented with feeding a Silkworm Queen these stones during his tests with rapid wood silkworms. The queen showed some interest but not as much as in segments of mulberry wood.
After killing several, the lack of any element stones inside the jellyfish disappointed him.
“Good, Mr. Ivan’s prowess is truly commendable.”
Caleb’s eyes brightened as he saw the Combat Energy coiling around the Quillen Sword. Such a young age to be a high-level knight was certainly not short of praiseworthy.
“Not as good as you, Great Knight Caleb.”
“Haha, that’s different.”
While they were talking, something leaped onto the deck. On closer look, it was a toad with lumps all over its back, lying flat on the deck like a stump.
Caleb warned, “Be careful, this is an Acid Spraying Frog, capable of lashing its long tongue and spitting acid.”
He covered himself with a layer of Combat Energy Leather Armor. Seeing this, Ivan also enveloped himself in Combat Energy, resembling a layer of black gauze.
‘Frosty Air’
Pearney cast a spell onto the deck, turning the Frosty Air into clusters that spread along the deck, precisely targeting the Acid Spraying Frogs which had just jumped onboard. The frogs were immediately covered in a layer of ice, freezing them on the spot, including the long tongues they had just shot out.
The others took this opportunity to go forward and eliminate the frogs one by one.
“Good spell.”
Caleb continued his support; the spell was indeed perfectly executed.
Pearney glanced at someone smugly, as if to say that using Combat Energy alone was unbecoming of a sorcerer apprentice.
Ivan smiled indifferently, for compared to Spells, Combat Energy was undoubtedly more enduring, unless he controlled the rapid wood silkworm to battle.
As time passed, the wild wind showed no signs of weakening, and various small sea creatures fell onto the deck, like clamshells that emitted magical smoke upon hitting the deck, showcasing the diversity of the sea beasts and their tenacity.
The pressure of the battle gradually increased.
“Secondary Tornado.”
At this moment, Cody, who had been watching for a while, called out clearly, his voice reaching everyone’s ears.
As his words fell, two small water tornadoes hit the deck, quickly drawing in surrounding water vapor and growing to the height of a building. The tornadoes spun across the deck, nimbly avoiding people and scooping up sea beasts, moving from the front of the ship to the sides, from the sides to the stern, then to the ship’s rail, and finally back to the front.
Every sea beast touched was swept up and then flung back into the sea, leaving the deck and hull momentarily clear of sea beasts.
Seeing this, everyone present couldn’t help but admire and fear the display.
‘Is this what a 3rd Class apprentice is capable of? Such powerful Spells really seem like true sorcerer methods.’
Ivan too was stunned by this display; such Spells that swept through everything at will were exactly what he aspired to, far beyond what Knight methods could compare to, and he looked forward with even greater anticipation to the Sorcerers Academy he was about to attend.
With Cody and a few other 3rd Class apprentices joining, the pressure on the ship significantly decreased, and after a long time, the wild winds ceased and everything returned to calm.
After this side-by-side battle, Ivan and Caleb became somewhat closer, able to sit together and enjoy some wine.
Gathering again at the table, Caleb said, “Ask whatever you want. I’ll definitely tell you what I can, but don’t expect me to know much about the Sorcerers Academy.”
Ivan smiled sheepishly, “Where are you from, Captain Caleb?”
Caleb replied, “I’m from the Moon Pincer Peninsula. It’s much larger than Tidal Island, maybe twenty to thirty times larger. Besides the Sorcerers Academy, it’s mostly human kingdoms, with countless people like me.”
Ivan realized that sorcerers had opened up vast areas for human habitation. It made him think that apart from its special title as the ‘birthplace of humanity’, Tidal Island must seem like a remote island in the eyes of the sorcerers, no wonder so few sorcerers appeared there.
“Are the people from the Moon Pincer Peninsula all strong?”
“How could that be? Ordinary people are ordinary wherever they go, just like the civilians in your area. Besides, I’m different from you; I’ve undergone a Bloodline Alteration by the sorcerers, which allowed me to break through and become a Great Knight.”
Caleb made no secret of his identity; he was a Knight who had pledged allegiance to the sorcerers, essentially a follower of the sorcerers. When the conversation became spirited, he also mentioned his Combat Energy characteristics, which were merely ‘massive strength’ and ‘endurance’.
As Ivan understood it, Great Knights usually had only one Combat Energy characteristic, and he had reason to suspect that Caleb was showing off.
From Caleb, he had gained some preliminary knowledge about the Moon Pincer Peninsula, their destination, a place populated not only by humans but also by many other intelligent species.
On the fifteenth morning.
A long melodious cry suddenly rose, startling those who were still asleep.
At a distance from the sorcerer’s ship, a shadow that resembled an island rose from the water, quickly revealing most of its body, followed by several smaller figures emerging around it.
“What a huge whale.”
Ivan and Pearney almost simultaneously stepped out of their room to see the central whale with a body as massive as a mountain, its enormous size awe-inspiring.
His first thought was of the whales used by the sorcerers to pull ships, and his heart skipped a beat—could it be here for retribution?